THE 2022 BIENNALE
VENICE BIENNALE PRIVATE TOUR
La Biennale di Venezia, 59th International Art Exhibition, will open on April 23, 2022 and will go on for seven months, until November 27, 2022.
The major concentrations of state pavilions will be as always at the Giardini and at the Arsenale, however a considerable number of states will exhibit elsewhere in town.
The title of this 59th edition is THE MILK OF DREAMS.
The present edition’s curator, Cecilia Alemani, affirms: “The Milk of Dreams takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) in which the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination. It is a world where everyone can change, be transformed, become something or someone else. The Exhibition The Milk of Dreams takes Leonora Carrington’s otherworldly creatures, along with other figures of transformation, as companions on an imaginary journey through the metamorphoses of bodies and definitions of the human.
This Exhibition is grounded in many conversations with artists held in the last few years. The questions that kept emerging from these dialogues seem to capture this moment in history when the very survival of the species is threatened, but also to sum up many other inquiries that pervade the sciences, arts, and myths of our time. How is the definition of the human changing? What constitutes life, and what differentiates plant and animal, human and non-human? What are our responsibilities towards the planet, other people, and other life forms? And what would life look like without us?
These are some of the guiding questions for this edition of the Biennale Arte, which focuses on three thematic areas in particular: the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses; the relationship between individuals and technologies; the connection between bodies and the Earth.”
Moreover, the Central Pavilion will feature three out of five “Time capsules” or five shows comparing historical and current artworks, ready-made pieces, and records, seen as further meditations on specific key themes. The other two will be at the Arsenale venue.
Roberto Cicutto, the Biennale President, affirms; ‘“Cecilia Alemani’s Exhibition imagines new harmonies, hitherto unthinkable cohabitations and surprising solutions, precisely because they distance themselves from anthropocentrism. A journey at the end of which there are no losers, but where new alliances are brought forth, generated by a dialogue between different beings (some perhaps even produced by machines) with all the natural elements that our planet (and perhaps others as well) presents to us.”
At the heart of this 2022 edition is certainly the female presence, as the great majority of the exhibiting artists are women, 192 out of 213 in total.
The foreign countries that are joining the current exhibit were affected too by the curator’s goals. It is worth mentioning a few examples of the ways artists from other nations were able to process these issues:
USA
Simone Leigh will be the first black woman to represent United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Born in Chicago in 1967, she lives in New York. Her works explore the “feminine black subjectivity” and focus on the social exclusion of black women in history. Leigh designed for the exhibit a bronze monumental sculpture displayed in the courtyard of the Pavilion, between the crenelated columns of the façade resembling the White House: a significant artwork to remember in this edition!
FRANCE
The choice for the current Biennale has a clear political meaning: Zineb Sedira is the first Algerian origin artist to represent the country.
Sedira was born in Paris, but she lives and works in London.
Her consistent research is centered on the concept of identity, memory, the legacy of colonialism, and the importance of oral traditions. Her lifelong experience in Great Britain as a daughter of immigrants has constantly fed her installations and videos.
NORDIC COUNTRIES (Finland, Norway, and Sweden)
This year an epochal event will take place in the Nordic Pavilion: its name is “Sàmi” referred to the people of Lapland, an ethnic group living in Russia, Norway, Finland, and Sweden to whom nobody ever agreed on a clear status of independence. Visitors have the chance to learn more about the centuries-old history and the local artists often disregarded by the art system.
GERMANY
Maria Eichhorn is a 59 years old fine conceptual artist based in Berlin. She was honored to be selected for the German Pavilion curated by Yilmaz Dziewior, who was impressed by the multifaceted way Maria addresses the history of her country, with a unique sense of humor and bold conceptual gestures. Her installations and site-specific works investigate political and financial issues through a variety of genres and media, from interviews to art magazines, videos, and films.
GREAT BRITAIN
Sonia Boyce‘s artworks will be on display at the Great Britain Pavilion of the Biennale 2022. Her exhibit is a mixed media installation encompassing video, noise, and three-dimensional objects that create a vibrant and innovative approach to artistic enjoyment. Visitors are supposed to interact with her work, physically and emotionally: they can speak, sing or move according to the impact on personal feelings. Something you cannot miss for sure!
Our Venice Biennale Private Tour will include a selection of the most significant exhibits at the Giardini and at the Arsenale. On request, the itinerary can be customized to include other venues in different areas of town.
More about the Venice Biennale 2022 here.
More contemporary art tours in Venice on our Walks inside Venice website.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Biennale Giardini top interest pavilions
- Biennale Arsenale most representative venues
MORE ABOUT
THIS TOUR
THE 2021 BIENNALE
La Biennale di Venezia is both a legendary event in the history of Modern Art and a stronghold of the fame of Venice as a mythical city.
Due to its amazing success, it became the model for other more recent Contemporary Art exhibits in the whole world, and still today is one of the major attractions in the city.
It was established in 1895 and is held every other year in a large green area – the Giardini – created by Napoleon in the early XIX cent., located in the Castello district.
At the beginning of the 20th century the main European countries were invited to set their own pavilion here, in order to display representative modern artworks of each nation. Some of the historical pavilions are masterpieces in themselves, and they will be part of our tour.
The purpose was reviving the international vocation of Venice as a capital of the arts.
La Biennale was also conceived as
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an Art Fair, where wealthy collectors could do their purchases, update their knowledge about the state of the Arts, contribute to the Italian economy, and ultimately increase the reputation of Venice as a cosmopolitan city.
Despite the conservative attitude of the exhibits’ juries, committed in assigning various awards, La Biennale constantly increased the number of countries, and showed interest in innovative trends and vanguards, especially after the World War II.
Abstract Expressionism was introduced in the 1950s, and Robert Rauschenberg was awarded the top prize reserved for foreign artists in 1964, on an architectural level the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa worked a series of remarkable interventions in the exhibition spaces from 1948 to the early 70’s.
In 1980, Achille Bonito Oliva and Harald Szeemann introduced Aperto, a section of the exhibition designed to explore emerging art, while in 1995 the French Jean Clair was the first non-Italian director of visual arts. The 50th edition, directed by Francesco Bonami, had a record number of seven co-curators involved, among whom Massimiliano Gioni, the curator of the 2013 edition. The 57th edition in 2017 was organized by the curator Christine Macel, Director of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The earliest shows dealing with architecture were part of the Visual Arts Department in the 1970’s, while the first Biennale Archittettura exhibit dates from 1980. The Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi was appointed Director, and both projects and designs were displayed at the Arsenale area.
DRESS CODE AND ADVICE
- Please wear comfortable shoes and a hat in the summer
COST
- This is a six hour tour (with a lunch break), or a three hour one for each section (Giardini or Arsenale)
- Cost of this tour 400 euros for each three hour tour
- Admissions: Full- Regular 25,50 euros – Students under 26 y.o. 16,50 euros (with current student ID)
CONTACT US
WALKS INSIDE ITALY
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